Episode 5: The Ravine Reveal

University of Chicago-based archaeologist Haeden Stewart is researching early 20th century history in Edmonton’s Mill Creek Ravine.

This episode: What has archaeologist Haeden Stewart been digging up in Mill Creek Ravine? I followed him down to the dig site itself. And along the way, I learned about a neighbourhood you might never have known existed, how Edmonton industrialized in the early 20th century, and what caragana can tell you about where to dig.

This episode also includes questions from community members who attended a live talk Haeden gave at the Bonnie Doon Community League in November 2016.

A map of Mill Creek Ravine, and the survey sites where Haeden and his team searched for archaeological remains. Excavation Area 2 is where they dug in the summer of 2016.

Haeden and his team identified two “shanties” in Mill Creek Ravine, close to modern-day Connors Road (Excavation Area 2 on the map above). When this community existed from about the 1920s to the 1950s), it was called Ross Acreage. Their homes were demolished, and residents evicted, when the City of Edmonton built Connors Road.

Haeden standing on the Shanty #1 site, in November (after the site had been sealed up).

A peek inside the hole at the site of Shanty #1 (Photo: Haeden Stewart)

The Shanty #2 site in November.

The Shanty #2 dig site in the summer. (Photo: Haeden Stewart)

This peek down into the Shanty #2 excavation, which showed evidence of layers of flooding from the creek over the years. (Photo: Haeden Stewart)

Some of the artifacts Haeden and his team have excavated include buttons from jeans made by Edmonton’s Great West Garment Company, and a child’s toy plate. He says some of these artifacts paint a picture of families living in Ross Acreage, not just men. [Editor’s note: Wow, I just realized this implies that men can’t have families alone. Talk about internalizing some bad ideas! I meant that he found evidence that women and children lived at this site, not just adult men living alone].

Buttons from jeans made by Edmonton’s Great West Garment Company. (Photo: Haeden Stewart)

A child’s toy plate. (Photo: Haeden Stewart)

The history of this community is intimately tied to the industrialization of Edmonton, the appropriation of land from the Papaschase Cree on the south side of the river, and the meatpacking plants and mines in the Mill Creek area.

The Bonnie Doon Community League is currently working on a book celebrating the 100th anniversary of Bonnie Doon. If you have stories, photographs, posters, or newspaper clippings to share about the neighbourhood, please get in touch with Margaret Russell at history@bonniedoon.ca or 780-469-1179.